London attack on Muslim worshippers: What we know

LONDON: Ten people were injured when a van drove into a crowd of Muslim worshippers near a mosque in London in the early hours of Monday, and a man who had been taken ill before the attack died at the scene.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called it an “horrific terrorist attack” and counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation, as Muslim leaders linked the incident to a rise in Islamophobic crime.

Here is what we know so far:

Witnesses said a white van struck a crowd of Muslim worshippers who had been attending evening prayers during the holy month of Ramadan and were looking after a man who had collapsed.

Police said they were first called shortly after midnight.

The incident happened outside the Muslim Welfare House, 100 metres (yards) around the corner from the Finsbury Park Mosque. The mosque was once a notorious hub for radical Islamists that has since become a centre for inter-faith outreach.

The scene is just metres from the main trunk railway line linking London with Edinburgh, the main Arsenal Football Club shop and what was the Rainbow Theatre, considered the prestige London concert venue in the 1960s and 1970s.

The van’s 48-year-old driver was detained by members of the public and then arrested by police on suspicion of attempted murder.

Witnesses said the man was white.

He has been taken to hospital as a precaution and is due to receive a mental health assessment.

Witness Khalid Amin told BBC television the man was shouting: “I want to kill all Muslims.”

One man was pronounced dead at the scene and eight people were taken to hospital. Two others were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The man who died was already receiving first aid at the scene. Witnesses said they saw him collapse shortly before the attack began.

Amateur video footage showed at least three people on the ground in the aftermath of the attack, with one man receiving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Police said all the casualties were members of the Muslim community.

Many local Muslim worshippers complained that police did not immediately treat the incident as a terrorist attack, saying they would have treated it differently if it had been an Islamist attack.